About 4 years after their second album, the American duo Kreign released their third opus at the end of 2024. Xiån Austin and Ryan Hutman stay true to their roots, drawing heavily from hard, old-school EBM. As with their previous work, they adeptly channel these influences, but this time they’ve pushed their compositions further, enriching them with a more diverse arsenal of sounds and effects. The music remains hard-hitting and relentless, with raw, aggressive vocals that perfectly complement the uncompromising intensity of their sound. Kreign strikes with precision, delivering efficient and impactful EBM. While a few tracks take a slightly quieter approach, the duo’s core identity -creating fiercely powerful EBM infused with brilliant sonic textures, shines through. Personally, I still lean towards their earlier work, but “III” undeniably stands as one of the standout EBM releases of the past year. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “S.O.S.”:

About Kreign

Kreign is an American duo of Ryan Hutman and Xiån Austin, set up in 2010 as a side-project of their band Hardwire. The pair started Kreign to pursue Hardwire’s more EBM-driven material, but the project sat mostly dormant for a decade before Kreign released its self-titled, self-released debut album in 2020. Scanner (Dark Dimensions) quickly re-released that debut.

In a Side-Line interview, Hutman and Austin discussed their shared love of stripped-down, old-school EBM. Kreign released “III”, the album reviewed here, on Scanner at the end of 2024.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Out soon is “Körperkommando”, the newest single from the German Augsburg-based EBM duo Bagger 258. The single is set to be released on June 28 and includes three remixes by Kreign, Tension Control, and Gamma Vortex.

This release will be available only in digital format through Bandcamp and on all major streaming platforms. The single was mixed by Daniel Hallhuber (Young & Cold Studio, Augsburg) and mastered by Stefan Poiss (Nicelabs, Vienna).

Nico von der Eisenmühle and Tim Schmelzer released their debut album “Ode an die Arbeit” on November 24, 2023. You can check that one out below.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Out now via Bandcamp as a free download is DJ Shane Aungst’s “Electronic Bodies – Nightside Sessions” mega-mix. The Seattle (United States) based DJ produced this 2-part megamix including 23 tracks (and 2 intros) from “Electronic Bodies” during long evening sessions in October 2023. Note that the intros were created by Viscera Drip.

As you will know the original “Electronic Bodies” compilation (available here on Bandcamp) focused on EBM and its offspring. The proceedings of this mega-mix will equally go to charity.

Shane’s mixes mainly deal in the EBM/Aggrotech/Industrial genres, and come with heavy layers of sampling and edits. He has been doing studio work, working on sampling, mixes, edits, remixes, as well as putting together some original material. We will soon also publish an interview with Shane on his current and future work. Check his Instagram page for more info.

The tracklist is as follows:

Part 1

1. Night side sessions – Intro 00:00
2. Diffuzion – Ain’t Gonna Fuck With My Brain 00:49
3. Rabbits Wear Boots – Cyborg 04:54
4. Him+He – Dr Jones (Ocult Mix) 09:42
5. ELM – Vessel Of Violence (Weaponized Cardio Mix) 14:06
6. Ars – Thanatophobia 17:18
7. UCNX – Burning Slowly Down 21:54
8. Llumen – You Can Have It All (Matrix Edit) 25:41
9. The Psychic Force – Lockdown Lovers 29:50
10. Kant Kino – Frontline (Edit) 34:22
11. Raudadler – Sexual Deviants 37:15
12. First Aid 4 Souls – Anger 41:58
13. Miseria Ultima – Yet Shivering Profound 46:30

Part 2

1. Viscera Drip – Night side sessions Intro 00:00
2. Human Vault – Flesh And Bone (Void You Are Edit By Nadragea – Side-Line Cut) 00:52
3. Digital Factor – What 05:18
4. Aiboforcen – Cycle Of Life (Short Edit) 08:35
5. Aesthetische – Boiling Over (Celsius Version) 12:30
6. Diverje – Numb (EBM Remix By Psychosomatik) 16:50
7. Venus In Disgrace – Generation Commodore 20:25
8. Kreign – Don’t Force The Hand 23:13
9. Fuckware – Combat 27:22
10. Stahlgeist – Infected Colony (Alternate Version) 31:10
11. Sinthetik Messiah – Know Your Enemy 35:39
12. Töt – Mon Nom Est Personne 39:14

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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The Belgian electro-industrial act Suicide Commando releases an all new song “God Of Destruction (Lies Lies Lies)” through Out Of Line. The EP deals with issues of religion and mankind.

Johan Van Roy: “While religion is meant to be something constructive, positive and should bring people hope, it unfortunately often is destructive and one of the biggest dangers of mankind. Whether you believe in a Jesus or a God in whatever religion. Religion often brings war, destruction, pain … just think about all those terrorist attacks of the last decades, think about all those wars going on in Africa or elsewhere, and not to speak about the 2 faces of the church and their years of child abuse etc …”

Musically you can expect Johan Van Roy’s signature dark electro.

Besides the main song, the EP contains remixes by the American EBM project Kreign and the Greek act Siva Six. Furthermore you can find a new remake in 2 chapters of “Destroyer of worlds”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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In celebration of Alfa Matrix’s 20th anniversary, Pouppée Fabrikk return with an exclusive vinyl version of their come-back album “The Dirt” which initiated the band’s radical return to their early EBM roots.

Many songs on this album were initially written between 1988-1990 on old four track tapes before getting re-recorded. All songs were remastered to better fit this vinyl format.

Strictly limited to 300 units worldwide, expect this one to be sold out in record time. You can order your copy right here in the Alfa Matrix webstore.

About Pouppée Fabrikk

Pouppée Fabrikk is a Swedish EBM band, started in 1988 by Henrik Björkk and Leif Holm, who both hail from Karlskoga. Originally the band name was meant to be Poupé Fabrikk, but when a friend made their first posters he incorrectly spelt it “Pouppée Fabrikk” and the band kept it like that afterwards.

Initially, the music of Pouppée Fabrikk was influenced by minimalistic electronic acts such as Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft and Nitzer Ebb, in a style some refer to as “Elektronisk Kroppsmusik” or EKM – the Swedish translation of “Electronic Body Music.”

With the addition of Jouni Ollila and Jonas Aneheim on guitar the group moved towards a more crossover/metal style. In 1996 the band decided to take a break and Pouppée Fabrikk was put on hold while the band members worked on various solo projects.

In 2000 the band re-united for a performance at the Tinitus Electronic Festival and announced that they were making a comeback and returning to their roots. They released a four track mini CD in 2001 entitled “Elite Electronics”. A year later both Ollila and Björkk left the band to concentrate on their respective solo careers.

After seven years of dormancy, the band re-united in 2009 with Christiaan Riemslag filling the place of former member Jouni Ollila. The band embarked on numerous live performances in 2010 & 2011. In 2013 the band compiled unreleased and remastered demo tracks along with a few new songs for release on Alfa Matrix as “The Dirt”. This album was preceded by the single “Bring Back The Ways Of Old”.

Later on the band also released the “H8 U” single offering remixes by Kant Kino, Aesthetische and Blush Response.

In 2017, the band “upgraded” two classic tracks – “Watch Your Sex” and “No Way Back” – as a digitally released single.

In 2019, the band announced the production of a new album, “Armén”, the first full length album of new material since 1998. “Armén” featured the band’s first Swedish language track, “Kom Ta Min Smärta”. Björkk – with the mastering assistance of former member Jouni Ollila – took the lead in producing “Armén”, adopting a more aggressive political theme along with his stated intent “to make the hardest goddamn EBM album ever.” A first single was released as a teaser, “Only Control” featuring also a remix by Spetsnaz as an extra.

The COVID-19 pandemic preempted a planned tour in 2020, but the band announced plans to use the time to produce new material. At the end of 2020, the band released the single “Burn Forever,” featuring remixes by Blush Response and Kreign, and Alfa Matrix released a six-disc limited box set anthology entitled “E K M . Anthology 1989-2019”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: German EBM cult band Orange Sector strikes back with a new EP following their successful last opus “Alles Wird Gold”.

Content: “The Work Is Done” was one of the most noticeable songs from their last opus; pure old-school EBM reminding me of DAF but also Nitzer Ebb. Orange Sector accomplished a hard remix of the song while Rob Dust and Puppenjungz remixed it. You’ll also notice two remixes of “Angstmann” which is another song from the album and previously released as an EP-title track. One remix has been made by Kreign. “No Justice – No Peace” is one more song taken from “Alles Wird Gold” which has been transposed into a darker edit. The exclusive “Blood Brothers” is an extra-smashing cut of EBM.

+ + + : The EP will bring no surprises for the fans but it however confirms the leading status of the German EBM formation. This is solid and hard-danceable retro-EBM; no tricks but just a pure sound! “The Work Is Done” is a perfect mix of old DAF and Nitzer Ebb with this little extra personal touch on top. I also enjoyed the “Short Aggression Mix”. The previously unreleased “Blood Brothers” is a cool new song holding on to the ‘aggressivity’ of the album stuff.

– – – : Nothing that new, but the fans don’t need innovation!

Conclusion: “The Work Is Done” is an appropriate title for this new release by Orange Sector.

Best songs: “The Work Is Done”, “The Work Is Done – Short Aggression Mix”, “Blood Brothers”, “Angstmann – Angstfrau Club Mix”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/OrangeSector

Label: www.infacted-recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted-Recordings/124099254321690

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

The Franco-Swedish EBM act ELM is back with an all new EP, ”Steel Hope”. In addition to the title track, the EP features the ”Sex Junkie” plus 4 remixes, 2 of each track.

While ELM delivered 2 own remixes, Patrick Codenys of Front 242 mixed ”Sex Junkie” and the American EBM band Kreign took care of “Steel Hope”.

The EP is out now on Bandcamp for immediate download and will hit all other platforms in the next weeks.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

KREIGN is an American set up in 2010 by featuring Ryan Hutman and Xiån Austin. They met thanks to a mutual friend. Ryan was involved with HARDWIRE and in search of a drummer. Xiån was drumming for Sang:Rael and Alter Der Ruine at the time and finally joined HARDWIRE. Some HARDWIRE songs were pretty EBM-driven, which was the reason to start a side-project. KREIGN was born and asked Dave Strand (THE STRAND) to join in as singer. But he finally decided to move on with THE STRAND. Being a side project, KREIGN didn’t really move anywhere for 10 years even though they had quite a few songs started and set aside. But KREIGN finally released their self-titled and self-released debut album in 2020, which got rapidly re-released by Scanner (Dark Dimensions). The work is a powerful mix of good-old EBM with an impressive sophisticated production on top. “Kreign II” is a true masterpiece and one of the best EBM releases from the past years.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: KREIGN has been set up as a tribute to ‘old-school’ EBM. What makes this ‘old-school’ style that special and what do you like in EBM sound? 

Ryan: It evokes aggression from me and I like that. I like the groove. I like that it is simple and minimal. 

Xiån: I grew up a New-Waver… in Utah of all places. My first glimpse of EBM and I’m not sure  if it could be categorized as such, but it was MINISTRY’s “Twitch”-album. I could not stop listening to “We Believe”. It was the driving bassline and simplicity of the beat that gripped me. I wanted to hear more. I was now on the hunt for something similar. Back then there was no Internet. The only way to find new music at the time was via magazines, clubs and/or word of mouth. A friend of mine had a DJ buddy in New York City. He would send him mixtapes of music he was spinning. I discovered bands like FRONT 242, NITZER EBB, DAF, PANKOW, SKINNY PUPPY, FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY and more. I would comb through record stores for hours and I would buy anything with cool cover art that looked Industrial or EBM. That’s how I discovered the now legendary Wax Trax Records. 

In the late 80’s, early 90’s, Salt Lake City spawned a killer Industrial club called ‘The Pompadour’. We would go religiously every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. The DJ was awesome and he knew his shit. Funny thinking about it now, he was probably more annoyed at the fact that, almost every song, we’d go to the booth and ask who he was spinning. Haha! 

Q: You guys got both involved with HARDWIRE while you were still active in other projects as well. What did you learn out of these previous experiences and what makes the difference with KREIGN? 

Ryan: Jonah from HARDWIRE taught me to not always use the ‘easy’ word to make a rhyme and to put more thought into my lyrics. Now, I am proud of my lyrics, even though they are usually simple. I can say more with less words. 

Mike from HARDWIRE and I learned early on that a live drummer can take a show to the next level. Even though I admit I suck at playing drums, I do it for KREIGN when Xiån sings “Disco King” and “In That Frame Of Mind”.

Xiån: I learned that it’s very difficult to manage multiple projects. Haha! All good though, the experience was worth every moment. I enjoyed traveling, playing shows and meeting cool peeps. As far as the difference with KREIGN, I think Ryan and I have very similar mindsets. When we hook up to write, it just flows. It’s a freak of nature I suppose.

Q: Old-school EBM often sounds simple and powerful; solid bass lines mixed with a danceable tempo plus harsh vocals and eventually metallic percussion parts. I consider KREIGN as one of the first bands breaking the codes; your music being definitely old-school like, but much more sophisticated and elaborated. Tell us a bit more about ‘sound’ and writing/production of the songs? 

Ryan: I figured out how to bend notes with soft synths in Cubase and I couldn’t stop doing it. We then translated that forced portamento back into the Nord Lead 2. Then Xiån and I would grab a few knobs on the Nord while the computer played the midi and recorded whatever we thought sounded cool. Fucking with FM, octave selector, pitch, and cutoff was so fun. We couldn’t do it without four hands on it and us laughing at the crazy sounds it made as we pushed the keyboard to it’s limits. It became a signature bass sound in most of the songs. It is rare for us to leave a bass sound without at least messing with the cutoff. Almost every sound is modulated by hand or is programmed to modulate.

Our formula also includes a few other hallmarks like basslines that play for just one verse, break downs that go to ultra minimal and then build up bigger, random sounds that only happen once in the song, ambient creepy background noise, and lead synth lines.

Q: How did the self-titled debut album “Kreign” see the daylight? What have been the influences, triggers, maybe references, lyrical themes and criteria to achieve the album? 

Ryan: I was really influenced by WULFBAND and GESSAFELSTEIN. I went back through a bunch of our songs and randomly detuned them after hearing WULFBAND for the first time. GESSAFELSTEIN influenced me to go back and crank the treble on the synths.

Lyrically, most of the songs have an upbeat message about how to deal with stress, anxiety, and tragedy. “Live Fast” is about my love for my Harley Davidson. “Disco King” is a fun song written with tongue in cheek.

Xiån: The push came from our good  friends in HOCICO. Erk invited us to play a show with them in Mexico City. We couldn’t decline the offer. We only had a couple finished tracks at that time. I think we had three or four months to complete the album, learn the songs, and rehearse them enough to perform a decent show.

It was an amazing experience. To this day I can’t believe we pulled that one off. (Still breathing heavy)…

Q: The limited edition of the album is something really special featuring only great remixes by mainly great names from the EBM scene. How did this bonus disc see the daylight and tell us a bit more about the different artists and the remixes they made?

Ryan: We had previously done a remix CD and an EP with some remixes with HARDWIRE. We met Jürgen Engler first through Facebook when we asked him to remix HARDWIRE. We got to meet him in person on the FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY-tour. When we asked him to take a look at KREIGN, he liked it and wanted to remix “5 Layers Of Chaos”. He also wanted to sing a duet with Xiån on “Disco King”. I thought it would be cool if he would sing it in German and he agreed, even though he was unsure if German lyrics would even fit the song. I think it sounds perfect. 

I had worked with REACHING FOR SHADOWS on some of the songs on her debut album. We met SPANKTHENUN, NZ, and NOVA STATE MACHINE through Facebook and Bandcamp. As much as I hate Facebook, sometimes it comes in real handy. 

Xiån: Peter ELM and I have been friends for many years. He was one of the first people we asked to do a remix. His amazingness never fails. A number of years ago I was invited to play drums for VOLVO:242 (a side-project of SPETSNAZ) at ‘Familientreffen 5’ back in 2009 (there’s a couple of cornball videos on YouTube) and I met the guys in AUTODAFEH who were also on the bill. These guys are top notch! Loved their music and performance. They later asked me to play drums on a couple tracks for their upcoming album, “Identity Unknown”. (“Evil Doll & Love Hate” and “Pain” to be exact). I was honored to do so.

Q: 2020 has been for sure a horrible year to release a debut album. How do you experience the pandemic versus your artistic activities? And what are the plans for post-Covid 19?  

Ryan: We would like to play more shows. We did a livestream show called “Isolation Room” and it was fun, but it was in an empty room. We usually feed off of the energy of the audience. It pushes us further to perform harder. We’d like to eventually play shows in Europe.

Xiån: Luckily we’ve stayed healthy throughout the pandemic and have spent a lot of time in the studio writing for our next album. Hope you will all stay tuned. New ideas and sounds are brewing…

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM.

Format: Digital, 2 CD.

Background/Info: Kreign is an American duo set up in 2010 by Ryan Hutman (still involved with Hardwire) and Xiån Austin (also involved with hardwire and ex-member of Alter Der Ruine and Dust Is Noise). They set up this band as a tribute to old-school EBM. Earlier this year they self-released a self-titled album featuring ten songs. They got signed to Scanner, which re-released this album while there’s an extra disc available with remixes.

Content: Kreign deals with a solid old-school EBM basis, which is driven by solid bass lines, heavy rhythms and powerful vocals. This basis has been mixed with sophisticated sound treatments, even featuring Acid-like sequences. The songs are all extremely powerful; there’s just one short instrumental break. Two songs are featuring The Strand.

The second disc features 9 remixes by some renowned EBM names such as Die Krupps plus Jürgen Engler, but still established names such as Autodafeh, NZ and Elm. There’s also a remix by Nova State Machine while Kreign remixed 3 songs as well.

+ + + : This album left me literally breathless. I’ve already heard great EBM productions after Nitzer Ebb; thinking of Orange Sector, Spetsnaz or more recently NZ. But Kreign moves a step further by achieving retro-EBM together with intelligent sound treatments. It’s hard to find this kind of powerful EBM with such a sophisticated composition. It’s powerful and crafted with genius. Kreign elevates EBM to a higher artistic degree. The sound treatments are simply amazing; from the heavy, menacing bass lines to the more complex sequences, which together with the enraged vocals will sound like a smack in your face. And there’s more… It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed an extra disc with so many remixes. Kreign not only asked talented projects and great names, but there’s something to say about each remix. I however have a preference for “Building You Back” remixed by NZ and “Live Fast” remixed by Autodafeh. There’s also a cool remix of “Layers Of Chaos” by Die Krupps.

– – – : Both songs featuring The Strand are the only ones that couldn’t convince me a same way, but I’m not saying these songs are worse!

Conclusion: Kreign took me by surprise, unleashing nothing, but a masterpiece of phenomenal old-styled EBM with an intelligent writing.

Best songs: “Add It Up”, “5 Layers Of Chaos”, “Shit Storm”, “Disco King”, “Lost Purpose” + “Live Fast – Remixed by Autodafeh”, “Building You Back – NZRMX”, “Layers Of Chaos – Die Krupps Remix by Jürgen Engler”, “Shit Storm – Reaching For Shadows Mix”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.facebook.com/kreignmusic

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Dimensions-Label-Group/486014725206

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro, Electro-Pop, Body-Pop, Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital, 2 CD.

Background/Info: Scanner is a subdivision of Dark Dimensions, which this year celebrates its twentieth anniversary. Set up by Francesco D’Angelo, Scanner has been always and mainly devoted to Electronic genres like EBM, Dark-Electro and Electro-Pop. The compilation features twenty six artists and songs reminding us of the great artists from this label.

Artists: Gin Devo, BhamBhamHara, Autodafeh, Kreign, DSTR, Fractal Age, Destin Fragile, Blue Images, Twins In Fear, Cyan Inc, Vomito Negro, [:SITD:], Eden Synthetic Corps, Mechanical Moth, Centhron, Intent:Outtake, Disorder:Mankind, Das Werk, X-Fusion, Spetsnaz, Grausame Töchter, Epinephrin, Black Heaven, A Spell Inside, Absurd Minds, Straftanz. 

Content: This sampler is a perfect way to (re)discover the Scanner label roaster, which features some great EBM names such as Autodafeh and Spetsnaz while other names such as [:SITD:], Vomito Negro + Gin Devo, Eden Synthetic Corps and Absurd Minds were more active in a darker EBM format, getting pretty close with pure Dark-Electro. Centhron and X-Fusion are for sure Dark-Electro! Other bands like BhamBhamHara and Straftanz are more representative of the progressive (Techno)-EBM format. A Spell Inside remains one of the ‘oldest’ bands from the roster and still one of the few to deal with Electro-Pop. And then there’s Grausame Töchter, which remains a very unique experience in sound. The compilation also features a few bands we’ve a bit forgotten like Fractal Age, Destin Fragile, Epinephrin. It’s also a while ago we’ve heard something from Cyan Inc. And there’re new signatures like the promising EBM formation Kreign and the Experimental-Electro Twins In Fear plus a few totally unknown names like Das Werk and Disorder:Mankind.

+ + + : When you take a brief look at the names featured at this compilation you can only, but agree Scanner has been for numerous years one of the leading labels from the Dark-Electro scene. But this compilation becomes really interesting when you’ll know that nearly all of the tracks are exclusive ones and/or rare edits. Frank D’Angelo always has had a nose to sign great artists, Kreign being the new sensation! My favorite cuts from the album are the ones by X-Fusion and Grausame Töchter remixed by And One.

– – – : This compilation doesn’t cover the entire Scanner roster, which says something about the Electronic welfare from the label. Some artists that haven’t been featured (because they’re no longer part of the label) are Amnistia, Stromkern, Distorted Reality, Sleepwalk, Page 12, The Eternal Afflict, Cycloon, Sara Noxx, Re:Work, Spiritual Reality, Inside, Das Präparat.. More than enough to fill an extra disc and they all are still part of this great label’s history.

Conclusion: This compilation is a part of history; 20 years of great underground music by Scanner!

Best bands: X-Fusion, Grausame Töchter, Autodafeh, Straftanz, BhamBhamHara, [:SITD:].

Rate: (8½).

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Dimensions-Label-Group/486014725206

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

The Swedish cult EBM (or is it EKM?) formation Pouppée Fabrikk closes this year in beauty by releasing a 2nd single from the “Armén” album which was released earlier this year in March. “Burn Forever” comes in 4 versions on this new single, the album version, an own remix and two more remixes by Blush Response and the promising US newcomer Kreign.

The single is out as download via Bandcamp and also on all other download and streaming platforms.

Or here for the streaming fans.

Just a few weeks ago the band also announced the 6CD box “EKM – Anthology 1989-2019” which is officially out now (and almost sold out).

Pouppée Fabrikk was formed in 1988 by Henrik Björkk and Leif Holm, who both hail from Karlskoga. Initially, the music of Pouppée Fabrikk (PF) borrowed heavily from minimalistic electronic acts such as Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft and Nitzer Ebb, but with the addition of Jouni Olilla and Jonas Aneheim on guitar PF shortly moved towards a more Die Krupps-style electronic/metal mix.

The band however soon returned to its old school sound of pure EBM.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

“Artificial Extinction” is the brand new album by the Mexican dark electro devils Hocico which will be released later in July.

The new Hocico album sees a release in 3 formats: 2LP, 2CD Box and a regular CD. The double vinyl edition comes in blue and silver and is limited to 500 copies

The deluxe boxset is limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies and includes an exclusive 10-tracks bonus CD with remixes and collaborations.

Tracks CD 2 (only available in the Boxset): Read the review of ‘Artificial Extinction’.

• Damaged (remixed by Hallucinator)
• Artificial Extinction (remixed by ErilaZ)
• Cross the Line (remixed by Tragedy of Mine)
• Dark Sunday (remixed by LUCKIID)
• Cross The Line (remixed by Zardonic)
• Dark Sunday (remixed by Poizon Party IV)
• Shut Me Down! (remixed by Kreign)
• Shut Me Down! (remixed by 89s†)
• Palabras de Sangre (remixed by Nohycit)
• Artificial Extinction (remixed by Static of Masses)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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